Since Qiao Xudong was going to wake up anyway, Qiao Yitong didn’t need to rely on Qiao Xunan for pocket money.
Qiao Xunan was stunned; he clearly hadn’t expected Qiao Yitong to say something like that. “You…”
“What’s the matter? Big Brother’s still in a coma, and you’re already thinking about pursuing your ‘white moonlight’?” Qiao Yitong sneered. “Second Brother, you don’t really think Big Brother will end up in a vegetative state, do you? He’s just waiting to die. And as for you—are you planning to step over Big Brother’s corpse sooner or later to inherit the Qiao Group?”
“No, no.” Qiao Xunan frowned. What on earth was Qiao Yitong talking about?
Qiao Xunan glanced around; thankfully, there was no one else there.
“You shouldn’t just say things like that,” Qiao Xunan said, sounding a bit flustered.
“Haven’t your so-called friends been saying that you’re going to be the future head of the Qiao Group?” Qiao Yitong said. “Third Brother is a race car driver, and my brother wasn’t even born to our uncle’s father. Our uncle only has the three of you as sons. When it’s your turn, you’ll have to take Big Brother’s place.”
“……” Qiao Xunan’s friends had indeed said things like that, but he hadn’t dared to listen too closely. But Qiao Xunan had indeed overheard a few remarks, and they’d given him some food for thought. Of course, Qiao Xunan hoped his eldest brother was all right. If something really did happen to him—if he didn’t wake up—Qiao Xunan would have to step up. After all, the Qiao family couldn’t be left without an heir.
“Your ex-girlfriend sure showed up at just the right time,” Qiao Yitong said. “Go on, go after her.”
Qiao Yitong wasn’t saying Shi Zhuojing shouldn’t do that—there was nothing wrong with looking out for herself. It was just that different people see things from different perspectives, and their thoughts differ accordingly. Qiao Yitong naturally didn’t want Shi Zhuojing to marry into the Qiao family, and Shi Zhuojing couldn’t marry into the Qiao family anyway.
Qiao’s aunt couldn’t possibly be unaware of Shi Zhuojing’s little scheme. If Aunt Qiao were forced to choose between Shi Zhuojing and that Cinderella, she might indeed choose Shi Zhuojing at first—she would likely side with Shi Zhuojing initially. But once Qiao Xunan broke up with the other woman, it was far from certain whose side Aunt Qiao would take.
Anyone who plays the role of the female lead’s mother-in-law in a series of novels couldn’t possibly be a pushover.
Aunt Qiao has plenty of tricks up her sleeve; she’s definitely not someone who compromises easily. As the matriarch of the Qiao family, she holds real, tangible power, and Uncle Qiao holds her in the highest regard.
“Second Brother, you’d better look into what your ex-girlfriend has been up to overseas—see if she’s taken up with another man,” ” Qiao Yitong said.
“That’s her choice. As long as she’s single now, that’s all that matters.” Qiao Xunan wondered if his ex-girlfriend really did have a boyfriend abroad, and realized that since he hadn’t been by her side and she’d broken up with him, she certainly had the right to find someone else.
“Oh, you’re right—it really is her choice,” Qiao Yitong nodded, spreading her hands. “Then you’ll just have to figure out how to win her back on your own. I’m not going to be your strategist. Second Brother, we’re all human after all—don’t you have even a shred of genuine feeling for that girlfriend of yours?”
“I made an agreement with her—I send her money on time every month,” Qiao Xunan said. “When something happened in her family, I gave her money, too.”
“Fine,” Qiao Yitong said. “Then it’s up to you.”
Qiao Yitong didn’t say much more; in matters like this, no one’s advice would make a difference.
“What you can’t have is always what you crave,” Qiao Yitong said. “Second Brother, just go after your ‘moonlight’!”
Qiao Yitong said no more. She’d leave it up to Qiao Xunan; sooner or later, he’d realize he was wrong—horribly wrong.
Sometimes, once a relationship has soured, it’s hard to go back to the way things were.
Qiao Yitong didn’t continue the conversation with Qiao Xunan; she went back to her room. She hadn’t stopped writing down all the story ideas in her head, but she had no intention of turning them into a novel to publish online. What Qiao Yitong wanted to do was open a relationship counseling practice—whoever could afford it could come for a consultation, and that was that.
After all, Qiao Yitong wasn’t spending a fortune to start this business; a little money for pop-up ads would suffice.
Once everyone realized just how capable Qiao Yitong was, she wouldn’t even need to advertise—people would find out about her on their own.
Qiao Xunan’s stand-in girlfriend had already heard from others that Qiao Xunan’s first love was coming back from abroad, and someone had specifically mentioned it in front of her. Jiang Wan’er was out shopping with a friend when she ran into one of Shi Zhuojing’s friends.
“I advise you to leave Brother Xunan sooner rather than later—the person he truly loves is coming back to the country.”
“Don’t wait for him to kick you out. If you’re going to leave, you have to really leave—don’t keep dragging things out.”
“What kind of person are you, and what kind of person is Brother Xunan? Are you even worthy of being with him?”
……
Hearing these people say such things right in front of her—Jiang Wan’er had truly fallen in love with Qiao Xunan over the past few years—her heart ached. Qiao Xunan had helped Jiang Wan’er solve many problems, and she had originally thought they could continue being together like this.
Jiang Wan’er wasn’t unaware that Qiao Xunan treated her as a stand-in; he gave her money on time every month, and sometimes even gave her extra. Jiang Wan’er really, really liked Qiao Xunan. Yet she had to hide her feelings for him, afraid that if he found out, he would cast her aside.
Was it time to leave?
Jiang Wan’er pressed her lips together. She watched as those people walked away. In front of them, she always had to keep her head down—she was nothing more than a lowly kept woman. Jiang Wan’er knew her family background wasn’t that great; everyone else saw her as a gray sparrow deluding herself into thinking she could become a phoenix.
“Wan’er.” Jiang Wan’er’s friend clutched her hand so tightly that she couldn’t help but say, “My hand hurts. It hurts—you’re squeezing too hard.”
“Sorry.” Jiang Wan’er quickly let go.
“What they say doesn’t count. He hasn’t actually told you he’s breaking up with you, so don’t listen to them,” Jiang Wan’er’s friend said. “Wait until he tells you he’s breaking up with you before you leave. Maybe he’ll even give you some money.”
“I… I’m not after his money,” Jiang Wan’er said. “I just have no other choice…”
Something had happened at home, and money was needed everywhere. Jiang Wan’er really had no other choice; she had no option but to agree to be Qiao Xunan’s mistress. Jiang Wan’er had once turned Qiao Xunan down; she’d said with great dignity that she wouldn’t be anyone’s stand-in. But when she really needed money—with her relatives all claiming they had none and her friends unable to lend her any—Jiang Wan’er had no choice but to turn to Qiao Xunan.
While she was Qiao Xunan’s mistress, Jiang Wan’er didn’t dare to ask for much. But whenever there was even a minor issue at home, Qiao Xunan would step in to help. Jiang Wan’er had told herself time and again that her relationship with Qiao Xunan was purely financial, but she simply couldn’t bring herself to see it that way.
Qiao Xunan was much better than many other men. Many men are chauvinistic—they expect women to do all sorts of things while they themselves refuse to lift a finger. Qiao Xunan would provide financial support, and sometimes he’d lend a hand as well. When Qiao Xunan himself wasn’t available, his secretary or assistant would help Jiang Wan’er take care of things.
Jiang Wan’er didn’t spend all that money; aside from necessary daily expenses, she managed to save some. While she was with Qiao Xunan, she basically never had to spend her own money.
“There’s nothing wrong with valuing money,” Jiang Wan’er’s friend said. “Who doesn’t value money? If someone were willing to give me that much money every month, I’d be willing too.”
Jiang Wan’er opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say. On one hand, she felt her friend didn’t quite understand her; on the other, she felt that since she’d already gone through with it, she had no right to say anything else. Jiang Wan’er felt a pang of sadness—in other people’s eyes, she was just a gold-digger, and she didn’t want her friend to think that way either.
Qiao Yitong met up with a friend, and the two of them sat together in a private dining room at a restaurant. Qiao Yitong was planning to open a relationship counseling practice, so she could simply send out emails. After all, this was a rather private matter, and it was only natural that they didn’t want others to know about it. Qiao Yitong still had to prepare a few other things.
“Pop-up ads?” asked Pei Jiayi, a member of the Pei family and a friend of Qiao Yitong’s.
“Right,” Qiao Yitong nodded. “A small pop-up in the bottom right corner—just a little ad. Want to join me?”
Qiao Yitong had no intention of remaining truly anonymous; she’d opened this studio, and sooner or later, everyone would find out about it. As for whether the little pop-up looked tacky, Qiao Yitong didn’t think it was that bad. After all, people who could afford computers were still a minority, especially those with good internet connections—those were the relatively wealthy ones.
“I thought you were going to help someone catch a cheating spouse,” said Pei Jiayi. “Just simple relationship counseling?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Yitong nodded again. “Of course, I’ll just do simple relationship counseling. As for catching a cheating spouse—I’m not that capable.”
Qiao Yitong held out her arm—it wasn’t exactly muscular—and she knew she wouldn’t stand a chance against anyone if she tried to catch a cheating spouse.
“Do you want me to bring some bodyguards?” Qiao Yitong asked. “With my skinny arms and legs, I’m afraid I wouldn’t just fail to catch the cheater—I’d end up getting pinned down and beaten myself. “Taking that many people to catch them in the act—that’d cause quite a commotion.”
“You’re right,” Pei Jiayi agreed. “With a studio like yours, would anyone even come?”
For people of their status, catching a cheating partner wasn’t really appropriate; offering relationship counseling, on the other hand, was perfectly fine.
“If people come, we’ll open for business; if no one comes, we’ll just close up,” Qiao Yitong said. “It’s no big deal—it’s not like we have to rent a huge office somewhere. Of course, I’m not stupid enough to work one-on-one with anyone.”
“That’s true,” Pei Jiayi said. “You did study psychology-related subjects, so this shouldn’t be a problem. You mentioned partnering—how exactly would that work?”
“This is still a business. We’ll have to distinguish between clients who pay nothing and those who pay a certain amount, and decide which clients to accept and which to turn down,” Qiao Yitong said. “I expect quite a few people will seek counseling. Free consultations? Forget it—our time is money, too. Of course, we can delegate the screening process to an assistant.”
“Are you sure there will be people willing to pay more?” asked Pei Jiayi.
“There will be—it’s impossible for there not to be,” Qiao Yitong replied. “I’ve already thought this through. We can ask my great-uncle to set up an office in the Qiao Group building. We don’t need a lot of space—just a small reception area, a small meeting room, and a small office will be enough.”
The reason for choosing the Qiao Group building was to save money; it already had security, so if anything went wrong, it would be easier to handle. Wealthy clients who didn’t want to be seen and preferred anonymity could simply send an email. Those who weren’t afraid of being recognized and wanted a consultation could come in person.
“In the Qiao Group building?” Pei Jiayi was shocked, but after a moment’s thought, she realized it was actually a good idea.
Qiao Yitong had a little ulterior motive—after all, the Pei family had a male lead too—but she didn’t dare mention it directly to Pei Jiayi. Qiao Yitong hadn’t even told her own parents; if she were to say something like that out loud, no one would believe her anyway.
“Right. And if you know anyone who needs help with relationship issues, you can refer them to me,” Qiao Yitong said. “This counts as a partnership—you can get involved too. For example, your brothers and sisters—aren’t they all great resources?”